10 ways photographers can think more like a pro

There are many differences between professional and enthusiast/amateur photographers, and it doesn’t just boil down to obvious ones like pros tend to shoot more and (presumably) make more money.

Professional photographers tend to think differently, too: or more accurately, they have a different set of attitudes and mental checklists as they approach a shoot. Here are 10 ways you can raise your photographic game by thinking more ‘pro like…’

1 Take better care of your gear
Since pros are reliant on their equipment for their living, they tend to be much more conscientious about looking after camera bodies and lenses.

Philip Jones Griffiths, a famous photojournalist who won plaudits for his book Vietnam, Inc., used to religiously clean his SLR and lenses every night after a job, however tired he was or unsatisfactory his living conditions. That way he could be sure his gear was in the best possible shape should he need to get a shot quickly.

So keep your lenses clear of fingermarks or dirt, and your sensor clean of dust bunnies. It will mean your gear will last longer and will be in better shape when you come to sell it, or you’ll spend less time sweating in Photoshop.

SEE MORE: Best camera cleaners: 6 ways to keep your camera and lenses clean

2 Familiarise yourself with scene 
If you watch most landscape pros in action, they don’t usually start shooting as soon as they arrive at a destination, however scenic.

The best exponents will spend some time familiarising themselves with a place, walking around to explore the best possible shooting angles. If the light isn’t right, they will either wait until it improves, or they will possibly even return the next day.

The point is, you are rarely going to find the best spot in the first five minutes of arriving at a place. Use your feet and experiment with different compositions through your viewfinder before you even take a picture.

3 Think about breaking down a scene 
When confronted with a vast, sweeping landscape it can be easy to get overwhelmed and try and go for the ‘kitchen sink’ approach and squeeze everything in, maybe be fitting a very wide angle lens.

This is fine, but the viewer may struggle to find anything to latch onto, and the image can feel quite ‘loose.’

A camera can never match the sensory experience delivered by the human eye, which is one of the reasons why panoramas, however impressive, can never quite match being there.

So instead, think about refining your image to include just a few very strong elements, that work in harmony with each other – these could be rocky outcrops, interesting-looking ploughed fields, hedgerows, whatever.

SEE MORE: Creative photography: how to think beyond the obvious with composition

4 Use rules but don’t be constrained by them
Staying with landscapes, while it’s true that a lot of pros adhere to the rule of thirds, leading lines and other familiar compositional devices, there are times they will break the rules.

Maybe they will have a tree right in the middle of the frame, or shoot into the sun, or not always have a boulder in the frame to provide foreground interest.

If the image is strong in other ways, or the light is particularly amazing, there is no point following compositional rules just for the sake of it.

It’s like music: if Mozart or Wagner had never experimented and bent the rules sometimes, they’d just be continuations of their musical predecessors.

SEE MORE: Break the rules: 4 clever effects from using ‘wrong’ exposures

6 Don’t ‘gun and run’
Another habit of highly effective photographers is that they take their time – they emphasise quality rather than quantity.

This is particular important in travel photography, where it’s tempting to race around a new city and try to shoot as much as possible, rather than putting in the time in one particularly interesting location.

Even a picturesque Buddhist temple in Thailand can look uninspiring in hard early afternoon light with tourists everywhere, but if you return at dusk or dawn or you might come across a particular event, or find particularly beautiful light, that really makes a stand out image.

You also get used to the daily rhythms and rituals, which again can yield more interesting pictures than you’ll ever get on a rushed visit.

7 Do your research and try to get access
Staying with the example of a Buddhist temple, pro photographers will also try to get special access to the place so they don’t just end up with tourist-style grab shots that anyone with a decent SLR can take.

They might contact the temple beforehand to see if anyone speaks English, and try and get access to inner rooms that are closed to visitors in return for letting the temple authorities use the shots.

Or they hook up with a local fixer who can suggest other, smaller temples that a lot of tourists don’t even know about.

Local fixers and facilitators are widely used by pro photographers, so see if you can find one that other photographers recommend online.

SEE MORE: 10 things you may not know about your camera (but probably should)

8 Get to know your subject
Documentary photographers also realise they will get their best images of people if they establish some kind of connection or relationship with their subject, however fleeting.

“It’s about showing them you care about their situation,” noted legendary photojournalist Don McCullin – so even if Don wasn’t able to do much to help the victims of war or famine, he could at least show he meant the subject no harm and wanted to show the world what they were experiencing.

Even if you aren’t shooting in war zones, you can apply the similar principles of empathy and connection with your subject. Smile, chat, hang around and buy something from their market stall, and so on.

As with point 2, you don’t need to get your camera out straight away and start shooting. Chances are the subject will be stiff and nervous, and it will show.

SEE MORE: How to shoot portraits of strangers: 5 quick tips to put people at ease

9 Check all four corners of the frame 
If you’ve located a particularly strong subject or scene, it’s very easy to develop a kind of tunnel vision and forget everything that is around them as you nail the shot.

Then you look at the image later on the PC screen and notice a tree sticking out of their head, or the bin in the background.

So, even if it only takes a few seconds extra, check EVERYTHING in the frame before taking the picture. If it’s irrelevant, distracting or annoying, take it out, and be mindful of the risk of tunnel vision.

10 Do what you can to find better light
Whether you call yourself a light stalker or a light chaser or a light worshipper, you need to grab great light when you can.

This might mean interrupting a bride and groom as they’re eating to take them outside to make the most of beautiful evening light, or it might mean moving a subject into better light just around the corner if you are travel photographer (asking them politely, of course).

While the amateur will make do with mediocre light and try to compensate for it in post-production, the pro will do what they can to ensure the light is as good as possible in the first place.

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